A homeless man charged with pointing a laser at Marine One while President Donald Trump was aboard was acquitted after what his public defender called “a clear example of misuse of prosecutorial discretion.” The New York Times reported the lawyer, Alexis Gardner, told the court that it was obvious from the moment of his arrest that Jacob Samuel Winkler wasn’t guilty of any crime but he was charged with a felony and subject to the full process. Gardner said “time and money diverted from real public safety threats” were deployed against a man “whose alleged weapon was a cat toy key chain.” A jury deliberated for 35 minutes before acquitting Winkler, and Washington District Court Judge Beryl A. Howell ordered his record cleared of the incident. It’s not clear when the trial was held. The Times wrote its story based on court records.
Winkler caught the attention of Secret Service agent on a bicycle who was securing the area under the flight path of the president’s helicopter. Winkler was allegedly shirtless and yelling while on the sidewalk of Constitution Avenue. The agent shone a flashlight at Winkler, and Winkler answered by shining the cat toy at the agent and then at Marine One, but his public defender told the court he never should have been charged. “Their verdict confirmed what should have been obvious from the start: Mr. Winkler committed no crime, and this prosecution was an unjust exercise of power,” she said.
Straight out of a comedy book.
If he was charged with a felony using a cat toy, shouldn’t it have been called a “feliney?”
I’m meow with you!
Just plain stupid. Apparently, some people have too much time on their hands.
I don’t see the comedy, JJ. In certain areas of the country, we have a scourge of idiots pointing lasers at aircraft. As far as I’m concerned, those who are justly convicted of doing so should not be incarcerated or fined, but have their pointer aimed at their eye (their choice) for one minute. Most importantly, this Old Testament remedy should be codified in federal law, widely publicized, and enforced.
That said, for decades I used low-power laser pointers in my career in corporate education. There’s a difference between an Independence Day bottle rocket and an AMRAAM.
After the verdict, the Agent should have been immediately charged with 25CFR11.448, and his lawyer with malicious prosecution. But there are two problems: such a charge is merely a misdemeanor, and the odds of any court holding a federal agent accountable for their actions is essentially nil.
Perhaps you could explain two things:
a. Why should an agent that probably in their opinion witnessed a violation of 18 USC § 39A be charged with anything since it probably was a lawful arrest?
b. Why would they charge them under Title 25 Indians,Chapter I Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior, Subchapter B Law and Order, Part 11 Courts of Indian Offenses and Law and Order Code, Subpart D Criminal Offenses, § 11.448 Abuse of office?
With a constantly increasing number of idiots comes constantly increasing idiocy. Open any news site and fail to find at least 5 articles in a row, which do not trigger you to slap your forehead. I can’t.
A nutcase with a cat toy laser, a federal agent on a bicycle and Marine 1 in the air. Lets come up with a story that is so outlandish that upright walking people develop a tic and which costs the taxpayer at least $5.000.000…
Sorry, straight out of a comedy show.
I’m not even clear that Marine 1 was in the air! From the way Russ put it, the agent was securing the path of the helicopter. Tell me…could someone on a bicycle “secure the path” of an already airborne chopper??? Seems to me that it hadn’t even taken off.
Without having witnessed the trial and the lack of known details of the case, we cannot know what evidence the jury actually saw and heard to reach the verdict. But the fact that a federal prosecutor lost this case to a public defender says a lot. The police (agent) presents the evidence to a federal lawyer who, in turn, is charged with determining the ability to prosecute. Short of violating the accused person’s civil rights during the arrest, it seems this case’s results lies solely with prosecutor, not the agent.
This actually gets at the heart of my main complaint when I hear the media (and pilots) complain about laser strikes. No one ever reports how strong the laser was! You can commercially buy lasers ranging from <1mW to >100Watt. That’s about the same energy ratio as a firecracker vs a tank shell. You worry when kids play with one, but not the other.